Rams running back Todd Gurley breaks through attempted tackles by Dallas Cowboys safety Jeff Heath (38) and defensive tackle Brian Price (92) on a carry late in the second half of Sunday’s game. This year’s 3-1 record feels different than last year’s, but the Rams know there’s no reason to get overconfident. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

Last October, shortly after the Rams improved their record to 3-1, documentary cameras captured then-coach Fisher as he told his assistants, “If we stay doing what we’re doing, we’re not going to win another (bleeping) game.” Fisher got fired two months later and the Rams finished 4-12.

So, here they go again. The Rams, after Sunday’s upset victory at Dallas, are 3-1. NFL teams in that situation, historically, make the playoffs approximately 60 percent of the time. The Rams are the league’s highest-scoring team and they’re having fun on and off the field. Isn’t there a slight risk of overconfidence?

“No. No,” offensive lineman Jamon Brown said Sunday. “Because look at last year. We dropped the next four. That humbles you. We will take those experiences from last year and learn from them.”

Last season, 13 NFL teams started 3-1 or 4-0, and eight made the playoffs. Of those 13, only the Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles (7-9) failed to finish with a .500 record, and even 8-8 would be a major step forward for a Rams team that hasn’t reached that level since 2006.

Improbably, though, expectations have been raised for the Rams, who host Seattle on Sunday.

The Rams have a quarterback, Jared Goff, who has remained mostly turnover-proof, a massively improved run-pass threat in Todd Gurley and a group of receivers and tight ends so deep that, even though Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods largely vanished against Dallas, the Rams moved the ball.

“To our players’ credit,” Coach Sean McVay said during his Monday news conference at Cal Lutheran, “there’s a couple different ways we’ve been able to attack people. We want to be mindful, from a self-scout standpoint, of what you’re doing and what (opponents) prepare for.”

And things are about to get tougher for the Rams, in terms of scheduling.

Seattle has won the NFC West in three of the past four seasons. Then the Rams have a game at Jacksonville, where they will remain for almost a full week before their Oct. 22 “home” game against Arizona in London.

For now, though, the Rams and the Buffalo Bills (3-1) are two of the NFL’s surprise teams, with a better record than league stalwarts such as New England (2-2), Dallas (2-2) and Seattle (2-2).

“If there’s anything that this first quarter of the season has represented in the NFL, it’s what a great, competitive league it is,” McVay said. “No matter how good a team is, you better be ready to go. That’s no different for us.”

The Rams still have significant issues on defense, particularly the fact that they’re allowing 4.9 yards per rushing attempt, the fourth-worst average in the NFL.

The positive is, the Rams and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips seem to have the ability to make in-game adjustments. After the Rams allowed 24 points and 287 yards in the first half on Sunday, the Cowboys were shut out in the third quarter and had only two first downs.

“Like most great coaches that I’ve been around,” McVay said of Phillips, “there’s a way of correcting in a manner that, guys understand it’s for the right reasons, and there’s a calm demeanor about it so that guys don’t feel stressed when you’re doing it. Then they went out and did it.”

INJURIES, RETURN

McVay said the Rams came out of Sunday injury-free, other than mild shin soreness from receiver Tavon Austin. McVay said the status of starting safety Lamarcus Joyner, who missed the game with a hamstring injury, remains “week to week,” and said he didn’t know whether Joyner would play against Seattle.

The four-game NFL suspension of receiver Mike Thomas (for a positive performance-enhancing drug test) has ended, and McVay said the Rams will keep Thomas as a seventh receiver on their 53-man roster. A corresponding roster move will be made before Sunday.

TOUGH DAY

McVay started his news conference with an acknowledgement of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, which to date has resulted in 59 deaths and more than 500 injured.

“They’re in our thoughts and prayers,” McVay said. “It’s so unfortunate that one person’s decision to something like that can affect so many people. It makes you so appreciative of the blessings you have, to be able to do what we do, and a perspective on things that are so much more important than this game.”

Rich Hammond was a high school senior when the Rams left town in 1995, and now he's their beat writer for the Southern California News Group. A native of L.A., Rich broke in at the Daily Breeze as a college freshman and also has covered USC, the Kings, the Lakers and the Dodgers. He still loves sports and telling stories. Don't take the sarcastic tweets too seriously.

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